Light at the End of the Tunnel

Do you ever have moments where you just can’t see the “light at the end of the tunnel” and you feel like you will never get through?  Our family has experienced this for 6 ½ years and just felt like we were having to jump over one hurdle after another with no end in sight.  We prayed for that “light at the end” and just felt like we would never see it.  About a year ago, Felicity was transferred from her regular Nephrologist (kidney doc)  to a new one that joined the clinic.  I remember clearly the day that we went to her office; I was so angry that we were having to change docs and didn’t go into her office with a very good attitude.  Then we met her; she was such a kind woman, very gentle and seemed to truly care about what we had to say…she won my heart!  Then last year, in March, we were told that Felicity had Lupus.  We researched it and learned what we could do to help her and what we could do with the “hand we were dealt”.  In August we went back to the Nephrologist and she could tell that I was very upset about Felicity’s health and still felt like something just wasn’t right.  She then called a Rheumatologist and made sure we got in and explained our situation.  We went into the Rheumatologist and again, got a doc who was sent straight from heaven!  She took an hour and half with us; she listened to 6 ½ years of medical history and every detail that I thought would be helpful.  Then she said something that I will never forget…she said “Felicity doesn’t have Lupus!  She has all of the signs and symptoms, but doesn’t follow a single pattern.  I think she has Celiac Disease and this is what I want you to do…”  And the rest is history, we took gluten out of her diet and we began to see changes right away!  Her hair stopped falling out, she started gaining weight again, her joints didn’t hurt so bad; this winter, instead of living at the hospital for various illnesses, she only got sick once!  The changes were unbelievable!  For years Dale and I said that we only needed 1 doctor to listen to us and take us seriously…just 1; even if that doc didn’t treat the thing that was “wrong” with Felicity.  That change in doctors at the Nephrologist was our answer to prayers; she was the one who showed us that the “light at the end of the tunnel” hadn’t gone out…we were just on a curve and couldn’t see it!  Last week, Felicity went to her Neurologist and they told us that perhaps her migraines were caused by the Celiac and we can start weaning her off of her migraine meds; by Christmas she could be off of all of her migraine meds!  Today, we went to the Nephrologist and she too, said that Felicity can start decreasing her blood pressure meds and that her labs showed that her kidneys are 100% healthy!

Now, not everyone’s “light at the end” will take 6 ½ years and not everyone will have to go through what we have to get there, but the message that I want to send in this is that the “light at the end of the tunnel” hasn’t burned out; it is still there!  You may just be rounding a curve that is blocking the vision of the light!  My message to you is HOLD ON and DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK!  I sit here writing this and thinking what would have happened if we hadn’t held on or if we had gotten too afraid of the dark to keep moving forward…that to me is even scarier than what we have gone through.  God is your light!  HE isn’t going anywhere, you may just be rounding a corner and can’t see the light shining!  BUT, if you keep holding on and keep walking through, rather than allowing the temporary darkness to paralyze you with fear, then you will get to the light at the end!  There is a part of scripture that I always tell myself and others when faced with something that causes fear, “God has not brought a spirit of fear, but of peace and of a sound mind.”  To me, what this says is that we should look to God for strength when we are faced with situations that bring fear.  It also tells me that if God didn’t bring a spirit of fear then that means that the enemy did bring it!  The enemy will do whatever he can to block your view of “the light” and cause you to be paralyzed in fear!  We cannot allow the enemy to do that!  Keep moving forward and keep heading towards where you know in your heart that light is!  Joyce Meyer has said before that sometimes you just have to do it afraid, but no matter what…just do it!  For years we were afraid of what might be wrong with Felicity, but we walked through that fear and came to where we are today!  Celiac isn’t a serious disease…it just means she can’t eat the same foods as everyone else; that is FAR less scary than all of the things we have been told was wrong with her!  And the best part…we have had the privilege of ministering to so many people as we walked through the darkness!  That is the great part about not allowing fear and darkness to paralyze you…there are people along the path to cheer you on, to help you, and that NEED YOU to help cheer them on in their journey!   Our hardships are NEVER for nothing…they are ALWAYS to bring people together, help each other and ultimately lead others to their “Light”! 

Are you allowing the darkness to paralyze you?  It isn’t too late…you know what direction the light is…just take the first step towards that light and grab hold of the people along the way that are cheering you on!  You have your own “fan club” and God is the leader of it!!!  Your light is just around that curve, but if you sit still, you will never get a glimpse of it!

Thoughs on Osama bin Laden's death...

I had determined that I wasn’t going to write about this topic because I am not 100% sure how I feel about it all.  Let’s be real though, people are talking about it and so I wanted to share some thoughts, even though they are mixed thoughts!  Let’s talk about the US killing Osama bin Laden!

I hate, like every other American, what he did in sending his followers to attack and kill Americans.  I am enraged at the thought of what he did on September 11, 2001.  I am thankful that the American soldiers have fought long and hard to put an end to terrorism and I believe every military man & woman and their families are heroes.  But let’s not fool ourselves; just because bin Laden is dead does not mean terrorism is dead.  I have no doubt in my mind that he knew at some point he would be captured and most likely killed.  I have no doubt that he took the time to train his leaders on what to do when that time came.  I also have no doubt that they are in the process of carrying out the next “phase” of attack.

Am I glad that Osama bin Laden is dead?  That, my friend, is a tough one.  Am I glad that the leader of terrorism is not able to terrorize anymore?  Yes, I am.  Am I glad that he is dead?  I just don’t know how to answer that.  I firmly believe that God cannot stand when people murder; I believe that He would prefer there not be war, but He is God and knows that sometimes it is necessary.  I also believe that God doesn’t want anyone to go to hell…even Osama bin Laden!  God sent His Son to die for EVERYONE; not just the people who do good or change.  God NEVER put a condition on His love nor did He place a condition on who His Son would and would not die for!  Yes, there were wars in Bible times, but that doesn’t mean that God liked it; there were evil people in Bible times too and God didn’t hate them!  The Bible talks about the end times and there being wars; so I firmly believe that this is something that was already talked about in the Bible, but that does not mean that God enjoyed it.

The Bible tells us that we are to love EVERYONE; especially our enemies!  We are to pray blessing over those who persecute us.  Is it easy?  Not in anyway.  Do I think that Osama should have died for what he did?  I believe that he definitely should have been punished for his crimes and death was the method in which it happened.  That doesn’t mean I think we should or shouldn’t have killed him and it doesn’t mean that I don’t respect and honor our troops.  In fact, I am thankful every day for those men and women who fight so that I can be a mom, wife, business woman and Christian!

 1 John 2:9-11  “Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness.  Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble.  But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness had blinded him.”

Matthew 5:43-48  “You have heard that it has been said, ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hat thine enemy’.  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you , and persecute you;  that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.  For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye?  Do not even the publicans the same?  And if ye salute your bretheren only, what do ye more than others?  Do not even the publicans so?  Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” 

1 John 4:20-21  “If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar.  For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.  And he has given up this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.”

These are just three passages of scripture that I found about loving our enemies.  Notice that in NONE of these does God command us to agree with what our enemies do and pat them on the back for a good job destroying us; He simply commands us to love them!  God doesn’t look at sin and wrong doing and say “This one was really bad, this one was bad but not too bad, this one can slide.”  Sin is sin and it is all wrong and all treated the same.  God hates lying as much as He hates murder.  Yes, Osama bin Laden carried out a very horrific and tragic thing; but he is still God’s child and God is saddened by the lie Osama chose to live and He is saddened that another one of His children must now spend eternity in hell.

That doesn’t make what bin Laden did any less horrible.  But hating him and rejoicing in his death only means that we have stooped to the level of the people that Osama trained to do evil things; it means that we have, according to the Word of God, murdered in our hearts!

I know that we all have mixed feelings about this and it is good to know that Osama bin Laden can no longer hurt anyone; but the bottom line is…a mamma’s son died, a child’s daddy is gone and a wife grieves the loss of her husband.  Yes, our soldiers died in this fight and I have no doubt that, sadly, more will.  But if we take a moment and view Osama bin Laden as God does…Osama was a son, a daddy, a husband, a child that God created!

I hate terrorism; I hate that ANYONE has had to lose their life; I hate that the World is in such turmoil; I hate that someone has to spend eternity in hell because he made very bad choices.  God’s heart is grieved that another soul is in hell…when God’s heart is grieved, ours should be too!

I know I will get a lot of flak from this blog and quite frankly…I don’t care.  I said what was on my heart and what I believe I was supposed to say.  If that makes for some haters…then so be it; the day I shut my mouth when God places something on my heart is the day I have given in to disobedience to my Father who paid the ultimate price for my life! 

Afraid...New Revelation!

I haven’t written in a while again because I knew what I wanted to write, but had such mixed feelings about it; today I will let loose and hopefully it will make sense!

As a mom I have always felt the need to always “keep it together” and not break down, not crack under pressure or show fear in scary situations.  I am so sure that all of you moms out there know what I am talking about!  Some of you that know me very well, know that I get very afraid of a lot things and I am not as strong as one might think!  Well, I am about to “let the cat out of the bag”.  I am having surgery in May and I am scared to death.  I have had a couple of major surgeries and have never been as afraid as I am for this one.  I am talking the kind of fear where you make your living will and pray that your family knows what they mean to you…THAT kind of fear.  I cannot even begin to explain it.  I feel like I am supposed to take care of everyone and I am scared to death that I cannot do “my job”.  I have literally had thoughts like, “What would happen to Felicity’s schooling?”, “How would Dale manage to work and care for Felicity?” and so on.  Yes, I know that God has it all under control and that I shouldn’t fear; bottom line though, I am human and it is natural to fear.  Believe me, I have quoted every scripture I can think of in hopes of it calming my spirit, I have tried to think about how healthy I will be again once this is all over and my kidney actually works, and I have played out in my head all the positives about this procedure; yet, I am still afraid.  Bottom line…I am more scared about this than I have been about anything in my entire life, I don’t know why, but I do know that I don’t like it. 

Why am I telling you all of this?!  Well, a couple of reasons: 1) I really need your prayers!  2) To let you know that if you are facing something that has you afraid…it is normal and you are not alone!

The Word says “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”  How can I not take comfort in that?!  God says, “NEVER”, that means He will ALWAYS be there to comfort us when we are scared beyond words.  It means that He is holding us in the palm of His hands…the same hands that are big enough to hold the world, let alone the same hands that formed the very world we live in!  Does that mean I am any less afraid?!  Absolutely not!  I am still afraid and I believe God knows that; that is why He places scripture on my heart and friends to talk to when I need it most! 

Since we just finished with Easter, this all kind of made me think about Jesus on the cross.  God’s Son was sent to Earth for the purpose of dying on a cross…I can only imagine that Jesus was scared.  It even says in the Word that He was so upset that He sweat blood…THAT is pretty scared!  Thinking of this helps me to know that I am in good company!  Jesus was probably very afraid of what was about to happen, just like I am very afraid.  What strikes me about this though is that He knew that He would die and that He would be in paradise with His Father.  I believe, with every ounce of who I am, that I will be ok and will come through this surgery better than ever, but let’s suppose for one second that I didn’t.  What do I really have to fear?  I will be in paradise with my Father!  As I am writing this, something else just hit me…hold on because this is powerful…..God already has a plan for Felicity and for Dale!  He already has what will happen in their future very carefully orchestrated.  This plan will happen whether I am here or not; it isn’t my plan…it’s GOD’S!  I do not have to be on this Earth for God’s plan to unfold…it will happen with or without me!  Just like the plan for my life would unfold with or without the people in my life.  Just like God’s plan for salvation unfolded through Jesus, with or without the people in Jesus’ life!  God doesn’t NEED me in order to fulfill the plans and purposes for Felicity or Dale; He chooses to use me in the plans a purposes!

Wow, as I write this I have learned something and take something away that is so different than what I set out when I started.  This is definately taking a different turn and I believe that this is not just for me, but for someone out there that will read this; so please bear with me as I go on a different path for a minute!  I just love how God works!  God doesn’t NEED any of us to fulfill HIS plans and purposes in this world…He CHOOSES to use us to fulfill His plans and purposes! 

Basically, I believe that I will be ok through my surgery and I will be healthy and whole once again!  AND, Felicity and Dale will continue to fulfill what God intends for them whether I am down for a few days or not!  God will continue to use their lives whether I am down for a few days or not!  And it is ok if I am afraid; God created me so He isn’t surprised that I am having these human feelings of fear!

WOW…what a powerful revelation!  God chooses you and me to fulfill His plans and purposes; He doesn’t NEED us…He CHOOSES us! 

“For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord.  Plans to prosper you, plans to bring you a hope and a future.”  That scripture says it all, “the plans I HAVE for you”.  Not the plans we have for ourselves…the plans HE has!  I know that what I was set on this Earth to accomplish isn’t done…so what do I have to be afraid of?  God chose ME to fulfill plans and purposes…He didn’t NEED me, He CHOSE me!

Lord, I am so afraid right now.  Please give me a peace to move forward in the plans that You have set before me.  I know that there is no obstacle set before me that I cannot face when You are orchestrating the plans and purposes!  You are a good God and I believe that you will protect me and my family as I go through this next little test of my faith!  I love you and thank you for CHOOSING me to be a part of the plans and purposes in this life!  I pray for those that read this blog.  I pray that whatever they are facing that has them afraid, that You would touch them and give them peace.  I know that You have chosen them for Your plans and purposes and that You can use them whether they are afraid, down for a few days or perfectly fine!  Thank you for choosing them to fulfill Your plans and purposes!

The Minivan Saga

Most of you know that I cannot stand to drive a minivan; I really can’t tell you what it is about them that I don’t like, I just know that I don’t like them.  On Saturday, my very stylish and beautiful Jeep died a very quick and painful death; I was then forced to lay it to rest and choose another vehicle.  Our awesome dealership worked with us, sold the Jeep to pay off our loan on it and had me go to the dealership yesterday to pick a new vehicle.  When I arrived, the owners son took me out on the lot and started telling me about this minivan; I cannot lie…I definitely tuned him out for most of it after he said “minivan”.  He told me that there was another Jeep on the lot, but it was 2 years older than the van, had more miles than the van and was more expensive than the van.  I kept thinking “let me see the Jeep first”, but what actually came out of my mouth was “sure, let’s look at the van”.  Chase then handed me the keys and told me to take it for a drive; the whole time I am thinking “Dear Lord, I cannot believe I am in a stinking minivan.  What the heck am I thinking?”  When I arrive back on the lot, Chase asked me what I thought and I told him I loved it…wait a second…what just came out of my mouth?!  I will admit it ran so smooth, it was big like my Jeep, it was pretty and it was very roomy inside; I just still couldn’t get past the fact that it is a minivan.  I went inside the dealership to sign papers and get stuff out of my Jeep to put into the van; the whole time I was in disbelief that I was about to drive home in a minivan…my minivan.  As texts poured in with people excited for me that I got a new vehicle I kept showering them with “but it’s a minivan”.  Then a couple of very wise friends pointed out that it is perfect for my business…think how many cakes I can deliver in that!  Felicity pointed out that we could take friends places and ride in comfort on trips!  Then I sort of started to view that van a bit differently, I started to envision my business and that van with a sign on the door with my business name on it and I began to get excited about the van.  Then last night, as I was going to sleep I felt a real conviction in my spirit.  I felt like the Holy Spirit was saying “Didn’t you ask me for a new vehicle?  Didn’t you say you needed something to drive?  Didn’t I open up doors for you to have a new vehicle?  Don’t you have a nice, new vehicle in your garage?”  Truth is…that’s right!  I asked for a new vehicle and I got one; I didn’t specify what I wanted except that it run and be bigger than a car and that is exactly what I got.

Yes, there is a lesson in this and no, it isn’t “be careful what you ask for”!  The lesson is: God ALWAYS has a plan!  Often times it isn’t what WE had planned, but it is always better than what we had planned.  I can see all the great things I can do with that van that would be more difficult in a Jeep.  God orchestrates things in our lives to be bigger and better than we can imagine!  You see, I had been talking about all these great plans for my business and that I knew it is what God wants for me, but never once did I think about how I would make deliveries for my business!  Guess what?!  God did!  God thought through EVERYTHING I would need for my dream to come true and HE made a plan for every detail…even the one’s I didn’t think of!

So, I still really don’t care much for minivans, but I am so very thankful that I have one and I can see all of the possibilities with mine…just because God saw the whole picture and didn’t listen to my rant about a minivan!  I have to think that He is up there smiling and as I was telling Him how much I didn’t want a minivan that He is saying “Would you just hush and give Me a second…I got this covered!” 

How often do we tell God what we want and when it doesn’t happen how WE have planned we get upset; in reality, God sees the ENTIRE picture that we can’t see and so He delivers in HIS time within HIS will exactly what we need for the bigger picture!  Man oh man…isn’t God so very, very good?!

Agree to Disagree?!

Wow!  It has been a long time since I last wrote a blog.  I have had so very many things on my heart and I was struggling to put them all into words, so I opted to just say nothing.  So, today I will just write and see what comes out!

We have all heard the saying, “We will just have to agree to disagree.”  This saying covers a myriad of things and is often a statement to end an argument or discussion that one sees is going nowhere.  This week I used that statement and for the first time it actually stung.  When I said it, I felt like it was ending a relationship rather than simply ending an argument.  So what then do we do after this statement is uttered?  For my personal situation, I know the topic that prompted that statement needs to be discussed, but I also know that no matter when, where or how it happens it will end pretty much the same way.  So, what then do I do?!  I uttered this statement because I know that I had very valid points in the argument…some points that I didn’t utter simply because I never want anything I do out of the goodness of my heart to ever be held over a person’s head.  I also know that this other individual made very valid points, although I personally feel like some of them are being held over my head.  I know that every time the topic is discussed it ends exactly the same…this person feels they are being wronged and I feel like this person doesn’t understand my perspective.   So, how long do we agree to disagree?!

The best response to all of these questions that I can come up with is…why does it even matter?!  In my points, to me I will always be right and to the other person I will always be wrong and visa versa.  I think that at some point we both just have to decide for ourselves what is more important…the argument and being right or the relationship.  For me, I know how I feel and this person has made it very clear how they feel and I know that neither one of us will budge from our views.  I have to decide…is the argument more important or is the relationship.  I personally choose the relationship.  The ONLY way I could ever win the argument is to hold things over the person’s head and I decided long ago that I would never be that kind of person, so I basically could never “win” the argument.  And realistically, winning the argument would most likely cost me my dearest friend. 

So what, then, about the other person involved?!  Well, I cannot choose for this person how they will respond.  I can only pray that our relationship is far more valuable to them than being right in an argument and that the only true “win” is to just move on and value each other the most.

I don’t know if this has helped anyone, if it did then I am pleased and if not, I at least shared my feelings and feel pretty darn good about my choice!

My only thought to each of you is this:  before you “agree to disagree” think about what you can gain and what you can lose by agreeing to disagree.  Is it really worth it to you?  Is being right more important to you or is the relationship your priority?

This decision doesn’t solve the overall issue, nor does it make me feel good about things that this other person said, but it does absolutely make me feel good that I chose to be a friend over being right.  That makes me neither right nor wrong…it makes me a friend first and everything else in that relationship is second! 

What are you priorities in relationships?  Would you rather be right or can you set some things aside for the sake of a valued relationship?

A series of amazing things has happened in our family over the past couple of weeks and I am so excited to share what God has done!

Many of you have followed the adventure of Felicity’s health struggle and have stood in faith with us for a long time for her healing.  In August she was diagnosed with Celiac Disease and our lives since then have been an amazingly, exciting journey!

A couple of weeks ago Felicity got an ear infection…I know, I said she was getting well and then started with that!  Here is the great part…typically by the last week in January she has had several illnesses and hospitalizations.  Typically an ear infection would last her several weeks to a month.  NOT THIS TIME!  She made it until the last week of January without illness and within 2 days of the antibiotics she felt healthy!!!!

Last Friday, Felicity and I went to the mall to get some clothes; the plan was to hit a couple of stores and eat lunch.  Felicity and I spent at least and hour in the mall and Felicity did so WITHOUT her wheelchair!  For her this is huge because up until this time, she needed a wheelchair if she was going to be walking for more than 15-20 minutes because she would be in so much pain with her joints.

Saturday, Felicity was able to play in the snow for an hour (she only came in because I made her)!  To most, this is no big deal because your child can play in the snow with no problems.  For Felicity, this was the first time she was able to play in the cold for more than 5 minutes without extreme pain!

These 3 things don’t seem like much to most of you so then…What does all of this mean?!  It means that her body is coming into alignment with what the Word of God says!  We have believed that “by His stripes she is healed”, “no weapon formed against her will prosper” and so on and her body is finally lining up with that Word! 

A friend reminded me this past Sunday of something that I know, but needed to be reminded of…the enemy doesn’t like what is going on in her body; he will fight hard to make us think that she is not getting well.  Our job is to continue to stand on the Word because we know the TRUTH…she IS healed and whole!  As a Christian, this gives us proof that God is still in the miracle business and miracles are not just for the Bible times, but for today and tomorrow and every tomorrow yet to come!  As a mother, this is exciting because my daughter can experience a little more what being a “regular” 13 year old is all about!  For the first time in over 6 years…we get to consider what extracurricular activities she wants to be involved in!  Felicity can pick a sport to play!  Felicity can be a kid!!!!

What do I want you all to take from this?! 

1. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER lose hope!  If you are believing for something that will require a miracle…DO NOT give up!  Continue to stand in faith, quote the Word over the situation and know that God knows what He is doing…He wrote the rules and the rules say that you win!
2. Don’t allow the enemy to come in and lie to you and tell you that a miracle didn’t or couldn’t really happen!  It can and it will! 
3. Don’t ever take for granted the simple things in your life!  Your children playing in the snow is just an everyday “normal” thing…my kid playing in the snow is a sign of a miracle!  Your kid getting over an illness in a day or two is “normal”…for my kid it is a sign of a miracle!  Does your kid play a sport?  To you that is normal…to us, it is a sign of a miracle!

For those of you who do not know Felicity’s whole miracle FILLED story and would like to hear it, please e-mail me at talksstraightfromtheheart@gmail.com I love to share all of the amazing GOD-THINGS that have happened in our lives…it truly ministers to people and ministers to me when lives are touched because of our lives!

Please continue to stand in faith with us that the Celiac Disease will miraculously go away too!  I know that my God is big enough and powerful enough…Do you? 

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound.....

Sunday, in our first service, Pastor Ray led us in a familiar song…”Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound…”  During the song I really felt a stirring inside of me about that one line.  I know there is so much more to that song, but that one line kept sticking in my head and sinking down deep inside of me.  I pulled my prayer journal out of my purse and decided to just write what came to mind.  I was amazed at what flowed from my pen.  So, I am going to share these thoughts that are on paper and that I cannot seem to get out of my head!

The song starts by saying that the sound of the word “grace” is a “sweet” sound.  How often, though, in our day to day lives does the sound of grace become bitter rather than sweet?!  We talk about our car dying, pipes freezing, pipes bursting, having to pay bills, having to eat food we don’t like (one I struggled with several times this week), having to do housework, doing laundry, and the list goes on.  The more we complain or dread these things the more our attitude changes and before we realize it, we don’t speak or act with grace at all.  We try to justify our behavior by saying “You don’t know what I am dealing with.”  “You just don’t understand.”  “If you only knew what my day or week was like.”  Really?!  God sent His Son to earth to die for YOU.  Jesus endured unimaginable ridicule and ultimately the worst imaginable death…for YOU.  All to show YOU grace…you know…the one with a sweet sound?!  As we get wrapped up in our own lives the word grace seems to flee our vocabulary and we begin to feel like someone, somewhere owes us something because our life is so horrible.  Really?!  At least you have a car to break down…some don’t.  At least you have pipes to freeze or burst…some people can’t even get clean water and have disease and illness because of it.  Praise God for the bills because it means you have a roof over your head, heat to stay warm, air to stay cool and electric…somewhere, even here in Oklahoma City, someone is living in a cardboard box (if they’re lucky) under a bridge.  Some people would kill for food and many actually die because they don’t have it and we complain because we don’t like what is on our plates?!  I could go on, but I think you get the point.  At what point did we become so much better than everyone that we think we deserve a perfect, foolproof life?!  I am talking to myself here too…this has gotten so deep inside of me that I have caught myself almost in tears thinking about it.  I even caught myself today, hours before writing this, getting upset with someone because they were slow in service and didn’t listen when I was calling them for customer service.  I felt pretty convicted because I was acting like a brat over internet…how many people would love to have that?!  How often do we take the attitude that grace is meant for us, but not for anyone else?  Why are we so quick to think that the sweet sound of the word “grace” is meant to cover us and all of our mistakes, but not anyone else’s?  It isn’t just about God having grace for us, but it is meant for us to pass along to others.  Has the sweet sound of grace become the bitter sound of grace in your life?!  Sadly, sometimes it is a bitter sound in my life.  Is there a magic trick to change the bitter sound back into a sweet sound?!  Not really, we just have to always remember the grace that God has given us and remember that God gave it to us with the purpose to pass it along to others that we come into contact with.  “Amazing Grace how ______ the sound, that saved a wretch like me….”  Kinda hard to fill that blank with the word “bitter” once you continue the song…it doesn’t make sense and it shouldn’t make sense in our lives either! 

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me.

I once was lost,

But now I’m found

Was blind

But now I see!